Undergarment



C. A. CAMPBELL.

UNDERGARMENT.

APPLiCATION FILED 0e13, 1919.

Patented May 3, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

C. A. CAMPBELL.

UNDERGARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED 0011s. 1919.

1,376,674:- Patented May 3, 1921.

2 .SHEETSSHEET 2.

Jme ntor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLINTON A. CAMPBELL, OF PIQUA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE IMPERIAL UNDERWEAR COMPANY, OF PIQUA, OHIO, A. CORPORATION OF OHIO.

UNDERGARMENT.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

Patented May 3, 1921.

Application filed. October 3, 1919. Serial No. 328,090.

T 0 all 20 ham it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLINTON A. CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Piqua, in the county of Miami and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Undergarments, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawmg.

This invention relates to improvements in under garments, and hasfor its main object to provide a union suit under garment which will have relatively greater strength and wearing qualities. and which will render the wearer thereof the maximum comfort and convenience.

In the evolution of union suit-undergarments much attention has been given to the arrangement of the waist, crotch and seat portions of the garment, the present invention being especially directed to an rimproved drop seat arrangement whereby ample seat opening may be provided, the garment adjusting itself freely and easily to the body of the wearer, and which will be a neat fit when the seat flap is closed. The invention in this respect corrects a common fault in union suit undergarments which consists in insufficient seat opening being provided, and consequent binding of the garments, or where ample seat opening is provided, it is a common fault to have the seat portion hang baggy when the garments are closed. The present invention corrects both these difficulties and provides a garment which fits the wearer neatly and also adjusts itself freely without discomfort to the body of the wearer when the seat of the garment is opened.

WVhile my improved garment is adaptable to all ages, the form here shown is especially designed for athletes and is constructed from the View point of athletic requirements, that is to say, to provide for the comfort and freedom of movement of the wearer, durability and neat-fitting qualities of the garment.

In the accompanying drawings;

Figure 1 is a front view of my improved garment; v

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same having the seat-flap closed;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the garment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 having the seat flap open.

Fig. 4; is a detail view illustrating the construction of the waist band.

As shown in the drawings 1 represents the right and left front waist portions of the garment, 2 the sides and 3 the rear'waist portion, the separate pieces being joined together by double side seams 44 and shoulder seams 5. Arm holes 6 and neck opening 7 are provided in the usual manner,

as here shown, consist of right and left drawer fronts 11 and 12 and right and left rear drawer portions 13 and 14, the same being cut on their upper and lower inner edges 15 and 16, respectively, when the seam is formed with the drawer fronts 11 and 12 on a bias or diagonal slant to the goods to form the crotch and to provide fullness for the seat 17 of the drawers. The outer seams 18 of the drawers are substantially straight of the goods, both the inner and outer seams being double stitched, as in the seams of the waist, and the drawers being hemmed at the bottom, as indicated at 19.

The garment thus sewed together into a one-piece or union suit is opened at the front in the usual manner, the opposite edges 2021 of the openings being strengthened by strips of reinforcing facings 22-23 sewed to the inner face of the goods. The right side of the garment along the reinforced edge 20 is provided with a suitable number of buttons 24 and the overlapping edge 21 with a corresponding number of button holes 25, the button-holes being. formed in and the buttons sewed to the reinforced portions of the respective opposite edges.

, While the foregoing detail features comprise improvements of arrangement and construction, the main feature of novelty of my present invention consists in the arrangement and construction of the seat opening and seat flap and the relation of the crotch and drawer legs thereto.

As here shown the improved garment is of the drop-seat style, that is to say, the seat flap opens at both sides and drops, or may be moved downwardly equally at both sides from the top. This, however, is common practice and is an arrangement which is generally unsatisfactorybecause, in well fitting garments, the seat opening is insufficient p1 and the garment therefore is drawn taut and binds on the legs of the wearer, thus causing inconvenience and discomfort.

To correct this difficulty and at the same time to preserve the well-fitting qualities of the garment, I provide a novel seat opening 26 and seat flap orclosure 27 consisting of the drop-seat arrangement referred to, oppositely disposed seat gores 28, slightly 'overlapplng at their upper portion, as at 29,

and I open one of the drawer legs, preferably the right one, on the line of its outer seam to a point 30 which may be well toward but not extending to the lower edge of the leg, the lower portion of the leg being closed a suitable distance upwardly from the edge thereof. This gives suflicient length to the rear opening without making it unduly wide. Further, an ample seat opening is thus provided and the open seat-flap can oe acqusseo without causing the garment to bind or otherwise interfere with the free movements of the wearer. v

Thus when the flap is unbuttoned at the top and one side the same may be gathered and drawn aside without restriction or binding of the garment to provide for freedom of movement of the wearer.

The opposite gores 28 consist preferably of separatepieces of material sewed at their side edges to the opposite rear edges of the drawer fronts 11 and 12, and at their top edges to the Waist band 10, the exposed edge of the gores being diagonal to the seat opening and hemmed, as shown at 81. Thus the gores are disposed yieldingly across the upper portion of the seat opening and serve to partially close the opening when the seatfiap is down, and also to more effectually close the opening when the seat-flap is closed. 7

The opposite rear edges 32 and 33 of the drawer fronts 11 and 12 are preferably strengthened by reinforcing facings sewed to the goods in the manner described with respect to otherreinforced edges of the garment, the reinforcing strip of the left edge 33 being carried downwardly beyond the terminal point 34v of the left side of the seat flap, to a point 35, being substantially equal distance from the lower edge of the drawer leg with the opposite terminal point 30, thus making the garment symmetrical in'appearand being substantially equal in width to the waist band 10, to the top edges of the rear drawer pieces 13 and 14. In the opposite ends of the longitudinal seat cross band button-holes 37 are formed which serve to fasten the seat-flap to buttons 38 sewed to the waist band. The long opening of the right drawer leg is also preferably closed by a button 39 sewed to the edge 32 of the drawer front at a point opposite the terminal point 3 1 and immediately adjacent the lower end of one of the gores 28; a button-hole 10 being formed in the edge of the seat-flap in alinement with the button.

From the foregoing detailed description and the illustration of the drawings the novel features of my improved garment will be readily comprehended and appreciated by those experienced in this art. In view of the art being highly specialized and refined it will be understood that points of merit, either as to convenience of arrangement, comfort to the wearer, or quality of construction, are necessarily confined to specific features of arrangement and refinements, the broader or general features relating to style or pattern of the garments of the various kinds having been determined by common practice.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an article of manufacture, a union under-garment comprising a waist portion and drawer portions with suitable front and rear openings having theirrespective edges reinforced by wide inner facings, a waist: band uniting said portions consisting of the material of which the waist and drawer portions are made, oppositely disposed gores secured diagonally across the upper portion of the rear opening at the waist line and extending downwardly and outwardly, a closed crotch portion, a drop seat flap adapted to be unfastened on each side, means to fasten it at each end of its upper edge to the waist portion at the waistline and when'unfastened to let it drop downwardly therefrom the full width of its upper edge and to be open relative to the drawers a greater extent on one side than on the other.

2. As an article ofmanufacture a union undergarment, comprising a waist portion and drawer portions, suitable front and rear openings, a waist band uniting said portions consisting of an outer band portion of the material of which the waist and drawers are made and an inner reinforcing band portion, front and rear openings in said garment having their respective edges reinforced by wide inner facings, a closed crotch portion, a drop seat flap adapted to be unfastened on each side, means to fasten it at each end of its upper edge to the waist portion at the waist line and when unfastened to let it drop downwardly therefrom the full 10 width of its upper edge and to be open relative to the drawers a greater extent on one side than on the other side.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CLINTON A. CAMPBELL. 

